Illamasqua Magnetism VS Rimmel 31

Now as soon as the Autumn months roll around we all jump on the berry lipped bandwagon at every opportunity, the most famous of the lot being MAC Rebel, closely second by the Rimmel Kate Moss 107. Although these are in my collection I was having a little peek around to see if I had any other berry lipsticks & found two others in my collection, Illamasqua Magnetism and Rimmel Lasting Finish in 31. With both of these I hadn't heard a thing about them before purchasing but they're just as lovely and I thought I'd do a bit of a comparison post today, so here we are....

Illamasqua Lipstick in Magnetism

Rimmel Lasting Finish in Shade 31

Magnetism was my first Illamasqua lipstick purchase way back last year in the January sales and it hasn't exactly got its use yet, truth be told I'd forgotten about it and now that I've come across it for this post I'm sure it won't be out of my handbag or off my lips. I really like the Illamasqua packaging, square, sleek & black with the brand along one side and the logo on the lid. It looks sophisticated, no bright pink and glittery packaging nonsense here.

At first glance, the bullet seems like a true berry but upon application its more of a borderline berry/deep pink which is a bit misleading but I've found most berry lipsticks are! The bullet is a nice shape and easy to apply, simply gliding on and isn't drying at all like I first expected and lasted for hours without needing touched up. I would recommend using a lip scrub or a lip balm before application but thats just a precaution I take with every lipstick, it makes all the difference! After this post I'm sort of wondering why I don't have any other Illasmasqua lipsticks! 

The second lipstick is the Rimmel Kate Lasting Finish Lipstick in 'shade 31'. Similarly to the Illasmasqua offering this is slightly less berry toned and looks more of a fuschia colour on the lips. This lipstick I've found is a lot creamier than the Illamasqua lipstick upon application and although it's a good thing (it doesn't dry your lips out in the the cold weather), I would prefer knowing my lips aren't going to slip or bleed throughout the day - the perfect solution to this being a berry toned lipliner (well fuschia/berry in this case). I love the packaging of the Rimmel lipsticks, again black with the logo on the top and brand name on the lid but this is more circular rather than square and I don't mind simply chucking it in my handbag whereas with the Illamasqua I'm a little more careful. Again this lipstick is really easy to apply and last for a good few hours (with eating and drinking) before needing checked on and its a lovely addition to my ever growing collection of Rimmel/Kate Moss lipsticks.

All in all both lipsticks are lovely alternative berry choices and for the same amount of product the Rimmel offering is more budget friendly and the Illamasqua lipstick is still reasonably budget friendly, just borderline higher end prices and I would recommend them both for the winter months!

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo    

P.s which of these two colours do you prefer OR do you own either of these lipsticks? 

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A/W Essentials: Lip Care

With the change in the weather: Autumns finally here! Ankle boots, ten layers of clothing, hot chocolates and berry lips here we come! Can you tell I'm excited? One of the best things about Autumn though is that no one can judge if you have a massive collection small handful of lip balms and butters at the bottom of your handbag - they're an A/W essential. This post was sort of inspired by Sundays #bbloggers chat, you'll know what I mean if you got involved and the theme was 'A/W essentials' and lip care is definitely up there with a good moisturiser so I thought I'd share a few of my favourites!

You may notice a bit of a theme throughout this post, except for one lip balm maybe two they're all scented... I think it makes all the difference having something smell good on your lips as well as keeping them soft and moisturized. My most used is probably Babylips in 'Cherry Me' which I just swipe on whilst doing my makeup and for top ups throughout the day - it smells incredible and leaves my lips feeling great.

My second most used Babylips is 'Hydrate Me' which works just as well but doesn't have a scent... the only thing about these two is the packaging. Its good and bad. Apart from the distinctly coloured tubes once you take the lid off to apply they look very plain, not the nicest. My friend actually bought me the third pink Babylips from America and I much prefer the packaging because the words are actually on the bullet and you just remove the lid each time which is a lot easier. The fourth offering I use is just a simple 'little blue tin balm' from Superdrug which I bought when I couldn't find the similar Vaseline tin (thats the absolute best I've found for my lips) and it works ok I guess, not the best but it still protects them a little from the cold winter weather and it wasn't too expensive so I'll let it slide.

The fifth and sixth lip balms/butters I want to mention are from The Body Shop (which I love). One is the Born Lippy Balm in Strawberry and I must confess I bought this for the sole reason that it smelt like Rowntree's Strawberry jelly, unfortunately it doesn't taste like it which is a bit of a let down but its still good to smell every once in a while and it keeps my lips in tip top condition. The last is the only lip butter I've mentioned - the Body Shop butter in Coconut and this was something free I put in my basket through the summer for the sole purpose of it smelt more summery than my usual lip balms and I'd heard good things about The Body Shop's lip balms/butters and well, I haven't been dissappointed - they're amazing! All of these balms mentioned are no more than £3 and for such an inexpensive cost I can justify a handful at the bottom of my bag - definitely worth picking up a few for A/W!

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo
P.s what lip balms/butters are your must haves for Autumn and Winter?

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Topshop Makeup: Innocent

Believe it or not this is my first ever Topshop lipstick purchase, I haven't a clue why I haven't got round to picking one up before - maybe its just because I'm used to getting things in Boots and Superdrug instead and then by the time I actually get round to Topshop I've spent an awful lot of money and can't part with anymore #girlproblems but I did get round to it, eventually... 

When I was looking through my lipstick collection (its not that big really) I noticed a pattern - a lack of pink shades, this may be because I went through a 'I hate pink' phase and gravitated instead towards purples and darker pinks but even still I thought I had a couple more than I actually did. Therefore when I was browsing Topshops makeup section I knew right away that Innocent was the one for me, its one of Topshop's more well known lipsticks and its the perfect baby pink.

First of I love love love Topshop makeups packaging and I thought this photo with the background actually looked pretty cool, how very monochrome of me! I also like the fact that the shade and name is on the bottom of the lipstick so it makes your life ten times easier to pack your makeup bag in a rush. Usually I try and avoid light colours because I look washed out being as pale as I am but this is actually a really nice match, its a pinky nude that doesn't actually do that, thats definitely hard to find.   The lipstick formula itself is really creamy, lightweight and seems to last for ages giving a glossy finish to the lips and I'm really liking it. I'm definitely not going to leave it too long before I pick up my next lipstick from the range! 

Thanks for reading, Jenny xo

P.s what do you think of Topshop lipstick range?